somewhere in the caribbean

hi guys
I hope you are all well.
congratulations to my sister Carla and Jay on the birth of their son Deisel.. 9 pound.. i am sure that hurt... well done guys

Since i left you last i have been floating around in the Caribbean. First stop Cozumel which is a little island.. some where off Cancun.I was still traveling with my travel buddy from Germany Jan...Not much to do here except eat great pastries.

Mind you we decided to go for a motor bike ride late one night. After riding in the pitch black of the night on a dirt road we pulled up at a beach to meet a man guarding the beach... in the dark...mmmm
he told us not to travel the road and to leave because we are in the mafia drug running road and we should have been stopped by the police road block.. which i think we missed....
he told us to get on the bike and go back and not stop for anyone...which we did.
Until we were pulled up by the police who searched my backpack saying something about turtle eggs... now do we really look like we are drug running with the mafia?.

Next stop the Country of Belize...where i spent valentines day, my birthday and carnivale. What a beautiful country ... we stayed on the island of San Pedro... which Madonna sang about in one of her songs.
Birthday was great and relaxed.. i found the worlds best banana bread and key lime pie.

Belize is like an island off the Whitsundays. its hosts itself to the second largest reef (of course we have the best in Australia) we did some amazing diving. i even held a 1.5m nurse shark. we saw eagle rays, eels and huge gropers.
Although i didn't dive the worlds famous blue hole (which is 130ft deep) the photos were amazing.

Working on my sun tan and lying in hammocks are how my days are spent.

Thank you to all those who sent face book and emails remembering my birthday... i am truly grateful when i am so far away from home

until next time

kat on endless vacation

havana-Cuba

Well

Just a small side trip to Cuba. I met so many people who recommended this country to me, urging me to visit it before Castro dies. (mind you he has been in office for 51 years now and the people still love him.).

Being in Havana was like stepping into a movie set. A scene from the sixties, with old cars (yes pete even morris, plymouths and old german motor cycles), the architecture was late 1800s and the buildings were beautiful.

Meet my new travel buddy, Yan from Germany. The second German I now know with a sense of humour. (yes Jurgen... you are the other one,.. and its our birthday soon).

We spent 6 amazing days here and we even managed a night at the Opera. We saw Puccinis Tosca (in Italian not Spanish )which was so moving.... yes its oficial I am a flash packer (no longer a back packer).

We ate at the best Italian Restaurant in the Carribeen (according to the Lonley Planet Guide) and drank some of the best wine from Chile. Backpacking in your 40s is so much easier than in your 20s.

until next time

Adios Amegos

kat

cancun-mexico

Hi guys

Well, I have decided to spend some time in a little sun. I have travelled to Cancun and spent a few days here sunning myself. Meet my new travel buddy Tess. She is an amazing lady from the USA/London and a ton of fun.

The photos are of the coastline on the Island of Women (Isla Mujeres)and the main transport on the Island is by motor bike or golf buggy (nathan I knew those golf trips paid off).

Tess and I then visited one of the famous Maya ruins (one of the seven wonders of the world)which was exciting. The ruins called Chichen Itza are used by the Mayas to as a calender.

Then its off for a swim at one of the many local Cenotes. They are underground swimming holes, a little like the Jenolan Caves with a bath tub.

The other photo is my kitchen in one of the hostels that i was staying at in the jungle.

ill keep you posted as to where to next

love and laughter

kat

marcy lane you are a goddess

Hi guys
After the last time we met i think i left you in Vail skiing.... flying out of Vail was certainly an experience....
when we were on the runway waiting to leave the pilot announced we woud be a while because he had to park the plane in the sun to let the ice melt off the wings....what a worry.. but then the cherry picker turned up with the heatlamps and the firehoses spraying the wings to we could get out of there....

I then found myself a new soul sister.. Marcy Lane... yes another aquarian.... we set off to Lake Tahoe for a Thelma and Louise road trip. (but she refused to drive off the cliff).
So we went off to Lake Tahoe for a long weekend... the timing was perfect... skiing in a blizzard in 1 foot of powder snow with often white outs....she is a gun skier and i think my whole skiing ability went out the window... so much for those lessons in vail.

We had to take a day off the next day to thaw out..it was so cold and she took me on a little tour which was exciting.. i dont think i have seen any place so beautiful in my life (yes it outdoes central park). We visited the beach with snow on the sand, had lunch at the Hyatt and spent the afternoon at the beauticians. What an amazing weekend with an amazing and truly imspiring woman.

We got back to San francisco and by defult I managed to land myself as her date at the Social Event of the year. It was a black tie ball with priority seating to the opening of the ballet season in San Francisco. (also the 25th anniversiry). It was held at the town hall, the evening amused us with the high society of San Francisco. Women in furs, diamonds and designer label gowns...
We were welcomed on the red carpet and a classic martini..and of course the rich and famous (even George Lucas was there).
It was truely an evening to remember and Marcy Lane .... I love you.... for making this possible .
I think she just raised the bar to my level of back packing around the world..

Until next time
signing off from Cancun, Mexico

Kat

skiing in vail- Colorado

HI guys and ski buffs

Yes I have managed to get to Vail to spend a few days on the mountain skiing. I met some really fun people thanks to the perfect host Will who lives in the village. I am sharing a house for the week and have just spent the day skiing in perfect spring conditions. (although it is still winter here).I booked in for a lessons and i was the only one who turned up in my grading. so i managed to get the instructor for 3 hours one on one for $100. The mountain is over 5000acres of skiiable mountain terraine. The base is about 30 inches and the temperature is about -2 degrees celsuis.

I am excited to ski blue runs when i haven't skied for 5 years.

With 193 runs, i keep getting lost but as long as i keep looking down the mountain i will always find the bar with hot choc and pepperment schnapps.

A Huge thank you to Will Parkhouse for showing me around town, organizing my tickets, scoring me my new goggles and introducing me to your fraternity house.

And tonite.. bob marley and the whalers were playing in town (minus bob marley of course)

life is great with open fires, hot tubs, great snow and peppermint snapps.

snowbunny kat

boston in January

Well i have found myself in Boston. I was going to Jamacia but i really fell in love with the snow thing and kept heading north. Boston is an amazing place where I spent 3 days checking out the city and surroundings. I visited the USS Constitution which was a navy ship built in 1797 an named by George Washington. It was a wooden hulled, 3 masted ,44 gun frigate. Its is 204 ft and made from southern Oak and was known as Old ironsides because the cannon balls would bounce off. It never lost a battle. I then checked out Harvard University campus which was ery impressive. Then spent an interesting but spookey afternoon in Salem which is a witch town where 20 women were trialed for witch craft. I couldnt wait to get out of there. That night of had an amazing experience where i had to go and see an ice hockey game. (that too was on my list). I also visited the Cheers bar.

The tickets were selling for $140 but i managed to do a deal with a scalper for $20. Mind you everyone in town speaks like they are from the Sopranos. I felt like i was doing hit deal with the marfia. The game was amazing and i managed to meet a great security guard called George (yes dont say anything) who spent the next day playing tour guide with me at the JFK musuem.

He had just graduated from Justice degree and was a huge wealth of knowledge on the history of USA politics.... Now i finally understand the Cuba- USA hate thing. George, thank you so much or being a perfect host.

until next time

love, laughter

katrina

godess on walkabout

massachusetts- thanks to ben bunning

Hi guys

Where am i now?.... I now went to stay with a girlfriends cousin in Paxton in Massachusetts. A huge thanks to Ben bunning who not only shared his home to me (and his 6 year old daughter too) but was an amazing host in Massachesetts. It was so exciting to wake up in the morning and see the whole town in snow. We managed to have some kid time with his 6 year old daughter Maria and went tubing at night in a chilly -20 degrees (windchill) celsius.

Christmas holidays were still in the atmosphere with the beautiful houses still lit up.

For those who love fun.. you have to try tubing....

take care

katrina